JEDDAH — To further strengthen its retail presence across the Kingdom, UAE-based retailer LuLu Group has opened its latest Hypermarket in in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Hypermarket which is also 27th in Saudi Arabia and 233 globally is located at Al Rawabi area of Jeddah. It was officially by Saleh Ali Al-Turki, mayor of Jeddah and Makkah, in the presence of Yusuff Ali MA, chairman of LuLu Group and other dignitaries. The store opening was also graced by Ramez M. Al-Ghalib, secretary general of chamber of commerce, Jeddah. The 168,000 square feet store is spread over one level and its unique emphasis would be on the food products grown and produced in Saudi Arabia, featuring Red Sea fish, locally-grown lamb in the meat section, Saudi coffee, Saudi-grown mangoes, locally grown fruits and vegetables and other varieties of foods produced in the Kingdom. This emphasis comes at a time when the Saudi government is calibrating a fresh approach to the culinary history and heritage of the Kingdom and promoting the growing agri-business and locally trending food vogues that are being generated by an affluent, knowledgeable and young consumer base. “We are glad to see another beautiful store opening that will cater to our loyal patrons living in Al Rawabi and its adjoining areas. The opening of this new store in Jeddah is part of our strategy to align our future growth with the opportunities that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made available to investors,” said Yusuff Ali M.A. “The leadership of Saudi Arabia is signaling its intention to empower its youth and invest in new areas such as agri-business and local food — not only is this vital for food security but it also gives nationals a sense of identity and pride in their country. The LuLu Group will do everything possible to support this and use its retail footprint to excellent effect for this purpose,” added Yusuff Ali. Saudi Women Chefs: One of the important features of the newly opened hypermarket is that ever popular LuLu hot food section which will showcase culinary talent of Saudi women chefs. These women chefs will prepare an array of local Saudi delicious foods and is a testimony of empowerment of Saudi women. The special Saudi coffee spotlight will include sale of Saudi grown coffee beans, sampling and conversations about the coffee traditions of the Kingdom. As part of the group"s commitment to support the national goals of progress and development in Saudi Arabia, more than 3,200 Saudi nationals are currently employed in LuLu, in which 1,000 are women, to empower the youth of the Kingdom for future growth and training. At the end of this year, 4,000 nationals is expected to get employment and 5,000 by late 2023. The store has a dedicated parking space for 427 cars and all the features to make shopping easy for customers such as green check-out and e-receipt facility. As announced recently, the Al Rawabi store will also offer shoppers the environmentally-sound and technologically advanced service of an e-receipt for every purchase which will go as an SMS message to their phone upon payment at the checkout counter. The store has the popular departments such as Eyexpress, BLSH and LuLu Connect the digital and electronics emporium. The inauguration ceremony also witnessed the Win a Dream Home campaign featuring grand raffle draw launched by Yusuff Ali with one grand winner who will walk away with an apartment and another 30 lucky customers set to win , worth of LuLu gift vouchers and more customers set to win Saudi riyals half million worth of gifts. The campaign will cover all the LuLu Hypermarkets in Jeddah region. Also present on the occasion were Ashraf Ali MA, executive director of Lulu Group, Saifee Rupawala, CEO of LuLu Group, Shehim Mohammed, director of Lulu Saudi, Rafeeq Mohammed, Lulu Jeddah Director and other senior officials. — SG